Halloween, the unofficial and inexplicable beginning of “the holidays,” always reminds me of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Maybe it’s because my first memories of what was then a recreation area are from the late ‘90s, hearing about the mythical area referred to as Hell Town. What was it? It was large swaths of land dotted with abandoned houses. The government was in the midst of a decades-long plan to reclaim the land for the park, but young people spun story after story of human sacrifice, mutants and every other horror trope, all centered in a small area near what’s today the Boston Mill Visitor Center.
By October 2021, I was brave enough to bring a microphone to the CVNP and ask people about the history and mystique of Hell Town. Residents said it didn’t exist but occasionally drew curious, annoying teenagers. Park visitors didn’t have any idea what I was talking about – a common occurrence.
Incidentally, that story aired a day after I filed a story on cremations: What can and what can’t go through the process of turning to ashes and dust. It wasn’t CVNP-related, but it was perfect Halloween reading.
This year a historic chunk of the park is in the spotlight, but there isn’t really anything scary about it. It’s been 50 years since the opening of the Richfield Coliseum. The land at Route 303 and Interstate 271 is now part of the national park and a great spot for bird watching. In 1974, it was a gleaming proscenium christened with a Frank Sinatra concert. A few weeks later, George Harrison was scheduled to perform during his only American tour, but unfortunately the show was canceled due to a blizzard. Harrison’s concert was scheduled 25 days before President Gerald Ford signed Cuyahoga Valley Recreation Area into existence. (His former bandmate, Paul McCartney, made it to Richfield in 1976). The venue was demolished in 1999.
CVNP was declared a national park in 2000. The last remnant of its literally toxic past, the former Krejci dump, was finally scrubbed clean by 2021.
This month - just in time for Halloween - a mural commemorating rebirth was unveiled near the visitor center. “A Wild Urban Refuge” by Arlin Graff uses geometric themes and eye-gouging colors to celebrate the beaver and its role in the park’s renaissance. Spooky? No. Beautiful? Yes. Park officials hope to commission more murals in the future.
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